Church of the Vale

Kids copy the movies they watch, and Ryan Germain says we all mimic whatever gets into our hearts. Paul tells us to be imitators of God and to walk in love as Christ loved us, not to earn anything but because the price has already been paid. So the question from Ephesians 5 is whether our life is worth copying, with Ps Ryan Germain.

Most of us look after our sick pets better than we look after ourselves. Nathan Finochio uses that picture to open Psalm 103 and the benefits we forget, that God forgives all our sin, heals our diseases, redeems our life from the pit, crowns us with steadfast love and satisfies us with good. Here is how we get our peace back, with Nathan Finochio.

God is not a vibe and God is not the universe. Nathan Finochio preaches that God is a person, and like any person He has preferences, revealed to us in Scripture rather than invented by us. Relationship with Him does not mean we get to love Him however we like, it means finding out what He loves and giving Him that, with Nathan Finochio.

Two men got the same invitation from Jesus. One walked away sad, the other left everything and changed the world. Ps Liam Barlow says the difference was not talent or opportunity, it was surrender, and the season for picking and choosing what we give God is over. From Mark 10, with a look back at the day Peter left his nets in Mark 1.

A fire only keeps burning if someone keeps feeding it. Ps Igor Scholz teaches that God's presence shows up as fire, and our response decides whether it stays. Too often we walk into that presence with fire extinguishers and marshmallows instead of offering our lives as fuel. From Hebrews 12 and Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.

Nobody enjoys being told to grow up. But maturing is a privilege, not an insult. Ps Ryan Germain works through Ephesians 4 and lands here: maturity in Jesus is the master plan, and we all become what we behold most. A mature believer looks like Jesus in power, character, humility and priesthood, every day of the week.

We are living in an identity crisis, and not just in the world. Ps Mel Chandler says many of us met Jesus and received a brand new identity, then kept living out of the old one. Knowing what God says about us is spiritual warfare, because a believer walking in that confidence takes ground for the kingdom. From Ephesians 1 to 3.

Our world only gets bigger when we take a step. On Futures collection Sunday, Ps Ryan Germain preaches one of his favourite stories, Peter climbing out of the boat in Matthew 14. The big and blessed life is not handed to us at the destination. It is built in steps of faith, right in the middle of the storm.

Receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled with power are two different experiences, and the early church treated the second as essential, not optional. Ryan McMahon preaches Pentecost Sunday from Acts 2, following our River Wild and Me series. The Spirit does not just dwell in us. He empowers us to overflow, and we can be refilled again and again.

Striving for rest sounds like a contradiction until we read Hebrews 4. Ps Marilyn Brett unpacks two rests, the rest of salvation we already received the moment we trusted Jesus, and the rest of submission we make every effort to hold onto. Unbelief is not doubting that God exists. It is believing the wrong thing about him.

Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Our Futures offering is our answer. Ps Ryan Germain brings the why behind Futures, alongside stories from Vietnam, from our outreach in Leichhardt, and from people in our house whose lives have turned around. Ordinary people bringing what God has given so something extraordinary happens. From Revelation 3:20.

It is our turn. Ps Ryan Germain reminds our church that the assignment has not changed, we are here to tell the world about Jesus, and our own personality and grit will run out long before the job is done. The power of the Holy Spirit has a purpose, and that purpose is witness. From Acts 1:8.